Formula E Headquarters At Donington Park To Be Completed Within Four WeeksThe $9.6M headquarters of the electric racing series Formula E, which is being built in Leicestershire, "is set to be completed within the next four weeks," according to the LEICESTER MERCURY. Beginning on July 3, the 10 Formula E teams "will be given five full test days, with each one open to the public free of charge, allowing fans who pre-register via the Donington Park website unprecedented access to see and hear the 200kw (270bhp) Spark-Renault single-seaters in action."

The remaining tests at the Leicestershire circuit will take place on July 4, 9 and 10, with the final session on Aug. 19 -- "three weeks before the season opener in Beijing" on Sept. 13. LEICESTER MERCURY

The Firestone 600 Verizon IndyCar Series race set for Saturday, June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway may be 52 days away, but on Wednesday it was the focus of 18 drivers who participated in an open Firestone tire test at the 1.5-mile speedway.

The test offered teams the ability to review their oval aero package and gain data while INDYCAR had two drivers in particular – Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter – helping the sanctioning body find the perfect package to enhance the racing for the Firestone 600. Texas Motor Speedway has become one of the more challenging tracks on the circuit and the additional track time proved to be a huge benefit for those drivers who participated in the all-day session.

Chevy Camaros will be Indy 500 Festival cars againA longtime tradition leading into the Month of May and "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" was renewed Wednesday when the 33 directors of the 500 Festival received their Indianapolis 500 Chevrolet Camaros on the main straightaway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The "Festival cars" have reminded Indianapolis-area residents of the upcoming Indianapolis 500 since the 1960s, and this year's unique cars will capture the attention of many as they are driven around Central Indiana.

Easter break for racing, but not F1Major U.S. motor racing goes quiet this weekend for its traditional Easter break. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Verizon IndyCar Series and the National Hot Rod Assn.'s Mello Yello Series all have the weekend off.

But non-Christian Formula One (Bernie is Jewish) will race Sunday for the Chinese Grand Prix on the Shanghai International Circuit track in non-Christian China.

When U.S. racing resumes the following weekend, NASCAR's Cup series returns to Richmond (Va.) International Raceway for an evening race April 26. IndyCar races April 27 at the Barber Motorsports Park road course in Birmingham, Ala. And drag racing holds the NHRA SpringNationals that weekend at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, near Houston.

Sparse attendance for IndyCar testAt the IndyCar open test at TMS. Last count there were 30 fans in attendance. Great action on the track and beautiful Southern California weather here in DFW. What a shame, but not enough hardcore IndyCar fans that would take off work to see a test.

IndyCar penalizes SaavedraINDYCAR officials have fined driver Sebastian Saavedra $10,000 and placed him on probation through the Indianapolis 500 on May 25 for actions during the April 13 Verizon IndyCar Series race in Long Beach.

Saavedra, driver of the No. 17 AFS KVAFS Racing car, was found to have violated Rule 7.1.3.2.2 (Failure to yield to safety vehicle and personnel).

The member may contest the imposition of the penalty pursuant to the procedures and timelines detailed in the review and appeal procedures of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook.

Cadillac and ChargePoint Bring EV Customer Luxury Driving ExperienceCadillac today announced a partnership with ChargePoint, the largest and most open electric vehicle-charging network in the world. The collaboration brings Cadillac ELR drivers immediate access to more than 16,500 charging locations on the ChargePoint network.

The ELR electrified luxury coupe went on sale at the end of 2013. It embodies Cadillac’s Art & Science design philosophy, combining provocative design with progressive technology. All 2014 and 2015 ELRs include a ChargePoint Driver Kit in the owner’s manual, providing access to its 16,500 EV charging stations. Many are located where EV drivers work, eat, shop and play.

“ChargePoint is thrilled that Cadillac, a marquee brand in the luxury car industry, has developed an electric vehicle for its customers,” said Pasquale Romano, ChargePoint CEO. “With the ELR, Cadillac is helping drive the rapid growth of EVs by offering an innovative and premium vehicle. We are confident that as more EV options come out, more people will make the switch to electric.”

Shanghai: On Board with Lewis Hamilton in the F1 Simulator!Lewis Hamilton guides us through a lap of the Shanghai International circuit - home to the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix - in the Formula One simulator.

The fan funding will provide a significant addition to corporate sponsorship of the car driven in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday, May 25 by talented American Newgarden.

"We are very excited to sponsor Josef Newgarden and the No. 67 car for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing,” Travis Tetrault, co-founder of CuttersRT said. “We thank all of our early supporters and look forward to seeing their names on the No. 67 entry."

FOX to air Talladega knockout qualifyingNASCAR ramped up its pre-race excitement level for the 2014 season, making qualifying more relevant and much more entertaining by introducing a highly competitive “knockout” system, beginning with 43-plus race cars on the track at the same time at tracks 1.25 miles or longer.

NASCAR on FOX, which covers the first 13 NASCAR Sprint Cups Series of the season, is showing its enthusiasm for the new system, moving the May 3 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway from FOX Sports 2 to FOX, marking the first time a non-Daytona qualifying session has aired on FOX.

After NBCSN’s first Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season, we checked in once again with our NBC Sports Group IndyCar analyst Townsend Bell for MotorSportsTalk’s first 2014 installment of “Ten with Townsend.” Look for more of these to come over the course of the year. For a 2013 archive, check this link.

Without further adieu, thoughts from our ace expert on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach:

With St. Petersburg a relatively mild race until the one restart, were you surprised by the level of aggression we saw at Long Beach?

Not really. I would say that’s the norm these days. For good reason too, because it’s so tough to win now. I fully expect a multitude of winners this season. So much quality, parity etc.

Elon Musk says no to Formula EFormula E has attracted several big-name teams for its inaugural season, including Andretti Autosport and Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing. However, a big name on the U.S. West Coast has decided not to participate -- Elon Musk. The founder and CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors will not be involved in the series.

Agag said, "What Elon Musk told us was that he was focusing very much on his road-car program, and at the moment he has no intention to go racing."

While Musk’s name will not be associated with Formula E for now, Agag respects the entrepreneur and hopes to have Tesla join the series at some point.

"I think what Elon Musk has done for the image of the electric car has been fantastic," he said.

DuPont Appointed International Sales Manager for Honda HPDHonda Performance Development together with Wirth Research today announced the joint appointment of David DuPont to the position of International Sportscar Sales Manager across the two businesses. The new position reinforces the companies’ commitment to the global endurance racing market, highlighted by the new HPD ARX-04b coupe which is set to debut in 2015.

DuPont joined Bicester-based Wirth Research in November 2012, bringing with him a wealth of motorsport business development experience. His previous roles include Sales Director at Performance Friction, Business Development Director at Hewland Engineering and Aftersales Project Manager at Prodrive, where he worked for 20 years.

Don't expect to see Stewart-Haas drivers in F1 carNow that her car owner has a Formula One team, could Danica Patrick ever race in the worldwide racing series? Gene Haas doesn't think so. Nothing against Patrick, he just doesn't think any of his NASCAR drivers could jump in a car for Haas Formula, a new F1 team that will begin fielding two cars in 2015 or 2016, and succeed. Haas actually has three drivers with IndyCar experience in his NASCAR stable.

Tony Stewart was the 1997 IndyCar championship, Patrick spent seven years on the circuit and Kurt Busch is competing in the Indianapolis 500 this year after completing rookie orientation last year. But Haas isn't looking from within for a future F1 driver.

Formula E Focuses On The U.S. And Asian Markets For Investments, GrowthElectric racing series Formula E is focusing on the U.S. and Asia for investments and growing the championship. Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag said, "The U.S. and Asia are more open to change and to progress in the industry."

Agag specifically pointed to the U.S. West Coast and China as the main drivers for the growth of electric cars. While the series believes that Europe will eventually catch up, it does not see it as the driving force.

"We are convinced that Europe also will follow, but it will not lead in this revolution toward electric cars," Agag said. The championship, which will kick off in September, has reportedly already lined up a further $40M in investments. Agag said that on top of their financial investments, some investors will also make strategic contributions to the business. The new round of investors will most likely include U.S.-based companies. In December, the racing series’ parent company, Formula E Holdings, sold a 10% stake in the business for an estimated $21M to U.S. investment fund Causeway Media Partners.

"In particular for investments, the United States is where we are seeing the most interest," Agag said. Formula E is expected to announce its new round of investors in the next several weeks.

In addition to investments, the series is in discussions with four companies about the championship’s main sponsorship package. Agag said, “It’s the naming rights for the cup, which we think is a very important asset to have for a sponsor.”

FIA approves new full course yellow WEC procedureThis weekend’s season-opening Six Hours of Silverstone will see the debut of a new yellow-flag procedure in the FIA World Endurance Championship, aimed to reduce the number of safety car periods.

The FIA has approved a new “Full Course Yellow” rule, where cars will slow down to 80 kph (50 mph), line up and maintain the distance to each other, without the use of a safety car.

The race director will still have the option of deploying a safety car for more serious on-track incidents that may result in a lengthy yellow.

Haas To F1 likely means eventual end to NASCAR TeamGene Haas has had quite a ride on his way to achieving the ultimate in race team ownership by being accepting into the biggest form of motorsports in the world: Formula One (F1). However, the commitment can be exhausting financially, so the first question should be: Will he stay in NASCAR?

With all the pomp and circumstance that comes with an announcement today that Gene Haas, co-owner of Stewart Haas Racing in NASCAR, that he will field an F1 team in 2015 (or possbily 2016), it’s difficult to look down the road. The accomplishment of becoming part of tiny but powerful association like Formula One, is amazing feat to say the least.

Photo issue with AR1 websiteWe apologize for many of our recent photos not enlarging to the proper size when you click on them. We are attempting to fix the mistakes by this person. If you still find any, send an email to feedback@autoracing1.com thanks.

Gene Haas hopes that his venture into Formula One also helps his NASCAR team, and he’s confident it won’t be a distraction.

Haas co-owns the four-car Cup team at Stewart-Haas Racing along with driver Tony Stewart, who was given half the team in 2009 in return for Stewart’s running of the team and ability to secure sponsorship.

Stewart has said he will have no involvement in the F1 program, which will share space in a new building being constructed at the SHR shop in Kannapolis, N.C.

Journalist pretends to be Michael Schumacher's dadA journalist keen to access the hospital room where seven-time Formula One world Michael Schumacher is recovering attempted to impersonate his father, it has been reported.

The unidentified reporter disguised himself as the father to try and gain access to the hospital room where 45-year-old Schumacher is recovering after a skiing accident that occurred on December 29th of 2013.

This, it turns out, is one of many cunning attempts. We previously reported on a journalist that dressed up as a priest. This particular attempt ended with the journalist being marched out of the hospital.

Westboro "Baptist Church" to protest the 500Less than a month after the death of its founder, Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to continue picketing — and the Indianapolis 500 is on the agenda.

Fred Phelps died in March and was known for creating the church that earned its reputation picketing at military funerals.

The church has announced a number of upcoming picketing events, including Indy 500 race day. According to the church’s website, it’s targeting the race for two reasons — Jim Nabors and mass consumption of alcohol. Nabors and his longtime male partner wed last year in Washington, after gay marriage became legal in the state. Westboro Baptist Church stands against gay marriage.

WC Vision Announces Make-Up Race Will Be Held at Miller Motorsports ParkWC Vision announced today that the Pirelli World Challenge St. Petersburg GT/GT-A/GTS race will be made up during the series' final 2014 race weekend at Miller Motorsports Park, September 12-13.

"We look forward to putting on an even bigger show for fans in the Salt Lake City area. The finale race weekend for our 25th anniversary season will be that much more exciting," said Scott Bove, President and CEO, WC Vision.

"On behalf of everyone at the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), I’d like to congratulate Marco Mattiacci on being chosen as the new principal of the Ferrari Formula 1 team,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett.

“Marco has been a tremendous partner with us, with great savvy and integrity for many years. While in his position as president and CEO of Ferrari North America, his active support of the Ferrari Challenge, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series programs – and most recently our transition to the new IMSA and the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship – has been invaluable. Ferrari won back to back GRAND-AM Manufacturer Championships in 2012 and 2013, as well as the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona in the GTD class of the TUDOR Championship.

“We wish Marco all the best in his future endeavors and are confident he will bring the same drive and success to Ferrari’s efforts in F1 as he did to our championships.”

Mike Conway, who won the Verizon IndyCar Series Race at Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, wasn’t the only one with reason to celebrate.

Event organizers on Monday reported close to 180,000 attendees over the three-day weekend, about 10,000 more than expected, according to preliminary estimates.

Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association, credited the weekend’s success to several factors, including the good weather, the fanfare surrounding the event’s 40th year in Long Beach and the appearance of racing legends such as Mario Andretti, who was grand marshal of this year’s event, and Al Unser Jr.

No one likes being forced to retire, no matter the sport. Dario Franchitti of Scotland is no different, but he has seemingly come to grips with it about as well as could be expected from one of the legendary drivers in IndyCar history.

Franchitti, no stranger to scary crashes, suffered some rather serious injuries when he wrecked last October in an IndyCar race in Houston. He fractured two vertebrae, broke an ankle and sustained a concussion.

Enough was enough, doctors said.

Today, Franchitti works as an advisor for his former team — Chip Ganassi Racing — and he’s loving every minute of it. Not that he doesn’t miss driving. He does.

Video: Long Beach post-race recapThe RACER Channel's Robin Miller leads a roundtable discussion of the 2014 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with JR Hildebrand, teammate to race winner Mike Conway, and RACER Editor David Malsher about the bad luck, crashes and other topics that came out of Sunday's Verizon IndyCar Series race.

There are a lot of stories today about Marco Mattiacci, the new head of Ferrari Gestione Sportiva, who is replacing Stefano Domenicali. He grew up in Rome and is 42 years of age. He is reported to have started his career at Jaguar Italia in 1989, which would have meant that he was only 17 or 18 and as he is also listed as having studied Economics at the Universita’ La Sapienza di Roma, the Jaguar involvement must necessarily have been short-lived. He then worked in strategic consulting in London but in 1999 when he got a call from Ferrari to work in developing sales in various regions.

After nearly two years he became the project leader of the Maserati launch in the United States for a year before moving to the US to be VP Sales and Marketing for Ferrari Maserati North America in 2002. Four years later he was sent to Shanghai as Executive VP for Business Development for Ferrari Asia Pacific, taking some time out to take part in the International Executive Program at INSEAD in Singapore.

Haas wants to beat the Europeans at their own gameAccording to our feature article by Pete McCole, Gene Haas is not sure if they will be ready to race in 2015, but his goal is to someday beat the Europeans at their own game of F1.

The latest American effort to field a Formula One team faces an uphill struggle to be ready by next year. Called Haas Formula, it will be headquartered both in North Carolina and Europe using a crew and support personnel from both sides of the Atlantic. It will have a “technical partnership” with Ferrari or Mercedes, but beyond that its design is a work in progress. Its two drivers -- perhaps Americans, but not necessarily -- likely won't be selected for several months.

Those were some of the details outlined on Monday by team principal Gene Haas, owner of Haas Automation and co-owner of NASCAR-focused Stewart-Haas Racing. The 61-year-old Californian met with the media in Charlotte Monday, five days after the FIA approved his application to become a team owner. He was joined at the briefing by co-principal Guenther Steiner, an Italian with extensive F1 experience as technical director for Jaguar and Red Bull.

Texas test up next for IndyCar drivers, teamsAs a rookie in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Jack Hawksworth knows that he has to learn a lot on the fly.

The 23-year-old Englishman will get his newest lessons when he joins several of the series' cars and teams visit Texas Motor Speedway on April 16-17. Nineteen car/driver combinations representing every team on the grid are expected to participate in the test, which will help set the aerodynamic options available to teams during the Firestone 600 in June.

But Hawksworth, whose superspeedway experience consists of races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Auto Club Speedway in Indy Lights, will be learning the 1.5-mile d-shaped oval's layout in his first oval experience in an Indy car.

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, April 14, 2014) -- INDYCAR announced today an addition to the practice schedule and further definition of the qualification format for next month's 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The schedule change features an extra day of on-track activity with the addition of a Verizon IndyCar Series practice session on Monday, May 19.

In March, INDYCAR announced an enhanced qualification format to increase the excitement level and on-track action during qualifications. The weekend will culminate on Sunday, May 18th with the Fast Nine Shootout, which will determine the coveted Indianapolis 500 pole position and the recipient of the Verizon P1 Award.

The practice session on May 19th will be held from 12-5p.m. (EST) and the extra day of on-track action will be open to the public like any other practice day during May.

"On Sunday teams will be completely focused on qualifying, so we added another practice session to give them a sufficient amount of time to test their race setups," said Derrick Walker, INDYCAR President of Competition and Operations. "Previously a majority of teams have utilized most of Sunday for full-tank running, so it was important for us to continue to give them that opportunity after qualifications are complete."

Justin Wilson had the Boy Scouts of America Honda in 2nd place, when he tangled with Scott Dixon.

(Editor's note: Animosity was in the air yesterday at Long Beach. As you will see here, even the typically mild mannered Justin Wilson was hot over his late race clash with defending series champion Scott Dixon).

Justin Wilson believes he could have won Sunday's chaotic IndyCar race at Long Beach had he not been eliminated by Scott Dixon on a restart.

The Dale Coyne driver was running second behind Dixon on the second-to-last restart when he moved to the outside of the Ganassi driver as the pair were approaching the right-hander at Turn 8.

Dixon moved toward the wall and clattered Wilson against the barrier, putting him out of the race. While Dixon was not carrying enough fuel to reach the finish without making another stop, an irate Wilson said that he could have done so comfortably.

"We were good to go," he said. "We were getting fantastic mileage under green and great mileage under yellow. We could have run flat-out from then on.

Darlington Raceway's New Marketing Campaign To Focus On Track's HistoryDarlington Raceway on Saturday announced a marketing campaign that will "highlight its history going forward into next year's Bojangles' Southern 500 weekend," according to Lou Bezjak of the Florence MORNING NEWS. Track President Chip Wile said that he wants Darlington "to be celebrated as other historic venues" such as Wrigley Field or Lambeau Field. Wile's plans include "NASCAR Classics clothing merchandise, which will have a retro look."

Domenicali says he left for the good of FerrariOn our rumors page we reported that Stefano Domenicali was axed. He was told to resign. He says he has resigned from his role as head of Ferrari's Formula One team with the aim of shaking things up and thus helping the Italian team to get back on track.

"There are special moments that come along in everyone's professional life, when one needs courage to take difficult and very agonizing decisions,” said Domenicali in a statement.

Jenson Button to drive... Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce has announced that Formula One driver Jenson Button will drive the marque's range of motor cars during the 2014 Formula One season.

Button has selected a number of the company's models, including the Wraith, Phantom Drophead Coupe and Ghost, to transport him in style for ten of this year's grands prix.

"I am absolutely delighted to be accompanied by the very best in British luxury as I travel the world this year. I especially look forward to driving the Wraith, a fantastic addition to the Rolls-Royce fleet and quite simply a stunning car to look at and drive," said Button.

Bob Bell to leave MercedesUPDATE The big question is where Bob will turn up next…

Bell (56) is a doctor of aeronautical engineering, who started in racing in 1982 at McLaren where he worked as an aerodynamicist until 1988 when he became head of research and development, later moving on to other projects, notably the McLaren land speed record car MAVerick.

In 1997 he moved to Benetton (now known as Lotus F1) at Enstone. After a couple of years he went to Jordan as head of vehicle technology before returning to Enstone (by then Renault F1) in 2001 as Deputy Technical Director and he became Technical Director in 2003. He was the team’s technical leader for the World Championships of 2005 and 2006. After the Singapore Scandal Bell became acting team principal and then Managing Director for the Renault team until he departed for Mercedes in 2010.

Big Crowds On Hand This Weekend For 40th Grand Prix Of Long BeachEarly attendance estimates for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend were "sitting close to 180,000" yesterday. Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President & CEO Jim Michaelian said that that is "the largest number the Grand Prix has seen in 10 years." Michaelian: "It was a spectacular weekend. Great weather. Huge crowds. ... It all came together in an extremely well-executed fashion." In a front-page piece for the Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM, Christian Trevino writes under the header, "Fabulous At 40" Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM

The grandstands were full, the racing good and the standing start fabulous. May IndyCar never do another rolling start again.

Yes, Mike Conway took the checkered flag Sunday afternoon at the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. However, don’t be swayed by that fact, the Englishman wasn’t the only winner.

It was the second such triumph at “The Roar by the Shore” for Conway, who demonstrated his patience throughout day. There were other Verizon IndyCar Series drivers who failed to just cool their heels long enough to change the outcome. Obviously, they weren’t on the list of winners.

Of course, the City of Long Beach comes out on top of any compilation. A record crowd that will total more than 170,000 after the final audit comes in — again refuting the belief Southern California doesn’t have race fans — hammered the region with an economic impact of untold millions of dollars, although not much of it was spent on clothes due to the great weather.

Video: Long Beach post-race interview with Conway and CarpenterThe RACER Channel's Robin Miller interviews Mike Conway, the ecstatic Long Beach Verizon IndyCar Series race winner and his team owner Ed Carpenter after the Englishman scored his third career IndyCar victory and second on the streets of Long Beach.

Indy 500 still 2 cars shortOn our rumors page in our Sunday report from Indy you will find that Chip Ganassi will run Sage Karan in this year's Indy 500. But that still leaves only 31 confirmed entries for the field of 33. However, according to AR1.com sources, Dale Coyne could run both Pippa Mann and Carlos Huertas and if he does, that would fill the 33-car field.

Johnny O'Connell (GT), Nic Jonsson (GTS) and Michael Mills (GT-A) took victories in Round 2 of the Pirelli World Challenge season, The Roar By the Shore Presented by Kia, on the streets of Long Beach.

For O'Connell, of Flowery Branch, Ga. in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R, it was a controlled drive from pole position ahead of his teammate Andy Pilgrim, with a margin of victory of 1.528 seconds at 75.313 mph.

O'Connell led all 32 laps to secure his first win of the season and 11th of his Pirelli World Challenge career. It capped a perfect weekend where he took home 151 points, led Friday's single practice session and took the pole on Saturday.

Dennis: McLaren must start winningMcLaren CEO Ron Dennis has said the Woking-based team 'must' end the season with some victories.

"I think we could win races in the later part of the season. I want to see a linear progression because we must end the season winning,” Dennis said in an interview with the official F1 site, echoing some of what he said at the start of March.

"This has to be our objective. We can't win today. The fact is that F1 is less cyclical as a sport. We used to have a very clear winter closure - now it's continuous. So if we don't have the luxury of some regulation changes, we have to be competitive as soon as possible this year - and we will be!"

Kurt Busch says Gene Haas serious about F1NASCAR driver Kurt Busch said team owner Gene Haas is serious about making a strong entry into Formula One, a move that could expand the series' footprint in the U.S.

"It will be an incredible challenge. He knows that," Busch said Sunday at the MotoGP motorcycle race in Texas.

"It's a matter of the fans getting behind it, supporting Gene and trying to give F1 another chance," he said. "We've had Michael Andretti, before him was his dad. We had Scott Speed as a driver. Now we have an (American) owner. It will be interesting to see how the driver lineup shapes up."

118,918 see MotoGP race in AustinCircuit of The Americas (COTA) welcomed 118,918 members, guests and participants for three days of spectacular racing and entertainment during the 2014 Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas MotoGP event, April 11-13. While rain clouds threatened most of race day, April 13, weather conditions were overshadowed by scintillating on-track action in the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 divisions and the engaging fan activities and live entertainment scheduled throughout the weekend.

Race fans cheered enthusiastically as reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez stormed to another commanding victory for his Repsol Honda Team. The 21-year-old Spaniard (No. 93) is now two-for-two on the year after his season-opening victory in Qatar. The always competitive Moto2 division was full of surprises, as Maverick Vinales (No. 40) of the Pons HP 40 team survived the accident-plagued start of the race to claim the winner’s trophy and improve on his fourth-place finish at Losail. The outcome of an exciting Moto3 contest came down to the final lap, with current series leader Jack Miller (AUS) riding his No. 8 bike to victory for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Team.

Marc Marquez has completed the perfect weekend in Austin, having led every session, taken pole (with a new lap record), recorded a new fastest race lap and crowned it with a victory this afternoon. His teammate, Dani Pedrosa, also contributed to the fantastic Repsol Honda spectacle with a strong second place 16.8 seconds ahead of third place finisher Dovizioso.

Starting on pole for the 11th time in just 20 MotoGP starts Marc, as last season, was once again the only rider to choose the hard rear Bridgestone tire. He had his best start in the premier class, only beaten in the first corner by Lorenzo who made an uncharacteristic jump start – forcing him into the pit lane for a drive through penalty – and promoting Marc back up to first by the end of the first lap.

It's about 11:30 a.m. local time here in Long Beach. The Indy Lights race recently concluded with Gabby Chaves taking victory, Zach Veach finishing second, and Matthew Brabham third. The Stadium Super Trucks will be racing at 12 noon, with Verizon IndyCar Series pre-race slated to begin around 12:30, and the green flag for the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach scheduled for 1:15 p.m. PT. And it promises to be an exciting one.

To begin, the three most recent Long Beach winners, each of whom have been fast this weekend, will start deeper in the field. St. Pete winner Will Power starts 14th, defending champion Takuma Sato rolls off 15th, and 2011 winner Mike Conway starts 17th. Power, of course, won the 2012 race from the 12th grid position. Expect each of these three to make a move forward early, and depending on cautions/pit strategy could be near the front come the end of the day.

Colombian-American Gabby Chaves turned the tables on Zach Veach to claim a finely judged victory in this morning's Long Beach 100, Round 2 of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. Chaves seized the lead at the start and led the entire 45-lap race to claim the second win of his Indy Lights career and the first of the season for Belardi Auto Racing.

That might sound like a straightforward victory for the 20-year-old Chaves, who finished second in the championship during his rookie campaign in 2013, but it wouldn't be an entirely accurate description of the race. In fact, Chaves had to work extremely hard to fend off the attentions of Andretti Autosport's polesitter Zach Veach, who never allowed him to relax. The pair was separated by just 0.6344 seconds at the checkered flag.

With a lap of 1:08.344, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing's Josef Newgarden set fast time in the recently-concluded morning warm up for today's 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Hendersonville, TN native was more than 4 tenths quicker than Sebastian Bourdais of KVSH Racing, who was two tenths quicker than pole-sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Next up for the Verizon IndyCar Series will be the green flag, scheduled for around 1:15 p.m. PT.

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with our Verizon IndyCar Series Post Qualifying press conference. We are pleased to be joined by our fifth place starter and tomorrow's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Jack Hawksworth driving the No. 98 Charter/Castrol Edge Honda. Jack is competing for the first time in the Verizon IndyCar Series at Long Beach, and he started 8th in St. Pete, so this will be his second Top 10 finish in his first two starts.

Law finds new career on pit roadVeteran DP racer Darren Law has found a new home at the track but not on the track. Law dialed back his driving duties in 2013. He is still at the track on many race weekends, working pit lane for FOX Sports 1.

Law started an unbelievable 161 consecutive races in the Rolex Sports Car Series, across several series.

The 2009 Rolex 24 at Daytona winner has a “tell it like he sees it" style. He knows everyone in the paddock and those relationships help as he patrols pit line during the race.

Team Cadillac drivers Johnny O'Connell and Andy Pilgrim will start first and second respectively for tomorrow's running of the Pirelli World Challenge Series Long Beach Grand Prix presented by KIA. For O'Connell it is his ninth pole position behind the wheel of the CTS.V.R.

On the first day of practice, O'Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) paced the 20 car GT field at the top of the time sheet with teammate Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) running in eighth. The duo had all day to work with Team Cadillac engineers to fine tune the CTS.V.Rs for today's late afternoon qualifying session. Under near perfect 65-degree temperatures and sunny conditions O'Connell posted a time of 1:20.386 good for first position on the grid. Pilgrim ran a 1:20.633 to make it an all Cadillac CTS.V.R front row for tomorrow's standing start.

Robby Gordon to test a stadium truck at IMSIndianapolis Motor Speedway still might host one of Robby Gordon's ramp-jumping stadium super-truck races on the Indianapolis 500's Carb Day (May 23, approximately 2:30 p.m.).

IMS president Doug Boles confirmed Saturday that one of the Speed Energy Formula Off-Road trucks will test sometime around April 24 depending on Gordon's schedule. It's expected that Gordon, the owner of the series, will perform the test.

Brett Davern won the 2014 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race, triumphing over a field of film, television, music and sports stars in the annual charity racing event. The roaring crowd witnessed the stunning performance by Davern who started the race on the pole in his Scion FR-S race car. Al Unser Jr. finished first in the Pro category.

Davern, who stars as Jake Rosati in MTV’s hit-series “Awkward,” took the pole in Friday’s qualifying turning a lap of 1:45.638. Davern jumped out to an early start when the green flag dropped on Saturday and never looked back, leading the 10-lap event around the 1.97-mile street course in downtown Long Beach.

"This is the greatest feeling,” Davern said after the race. “Finishing second last year, I wanted to come back and run a good race, and I did and it was so much fun. I got to put a helmet on, and a race suit, and get in a race car and drive, this has been a dream come true."

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